1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a printer, and in particular to a matrix pin printer, with a print-head distance setting device for setting the distance between the print head and the print-material counter support for recording materials of unequal thickness or for a varying number of recording-ink carriers, resting on the print counter support, where a mechanical sensing member rests on the recording carrier or carriers, where the mechanical sensing member serves for controlling a print-head position adjustable in a cross direction relative to the longitudinal direction of a print-head carriage motion.
2. Brief Description of the Background of the Invention Including Prior Art
Print-head distance-setting devices are required because of a small stroke path of print elements such as, for example, of print pins, where the stroke amounts to about 0.3 to 0.5 mm. The character image, generated by the print head, is substantially determined by a properly set distance between the print head and the print-material counter support.
A device for adjusting and setting the distance of a print head perpendicular to the print-material counter support is known from the German Patent DE-C1, 2,752,061. Said device serves for an adjustable, automatic distance control of the print head versus the recording-material carrier, depending on different thicknesses and numbers of layers of the recording-material carrier resting on the print-material counter support. The print head is slidable on a transport slider carriage, movable in parallel to the print-material counter support, with an eccentrically disposed pin drivable by an electric motor. The electric motor is controlled by a mechanical-electrical converter. Said mechanical-electrical converter in turn can be influenced by the different strengths and thicknesses of the recording-material carriers resting on the print-material counter support.
This arrangement of the distance-setting device on the print-head slider carriage is not only expensive and therefore uneconomical, but it increases in addition the driving weight of the print-head slider carriage. In addition, the accuracy of the distance-setting device depends on the precision of the electric motor, which electric motor is carried along on the slider carriage.